Can the Nationalist Party, please, nominate and then elect a woman leader?

I am not a tesserata but I am going down on my knees here, and begging all 20,000-plus PN members to read the sign of the times and do away with men who could easily double up as main actors in box office movies.

I am absolutely fed up with larger-than-life male leaders who become the news. It is very clear that what the country needs at this very moment is a woman leader – and the PN is the only political party that can do that because Labour has just missed the boat in January.

I am not just saying elect just any random woman. I am writing this with the full knowledge that the PN has two extremely competent women in its ranks: Therese Comodini Cachia and Roberta Metsola.

Commodini Cachia was the one who made history when she took the gutsy step no other man would, and challenged the authority of the flailing Opposition leader in parliament. Metsola was the one who did what no other man did: in front of the world’s cameras she refused to shake Muscat’s bloodied and corrupt hands.

Both women made a statement when it mattered most. Both women showed they could lead by example. Both women showed mettle and balls, when no man would.

The question is: will the party promote them? Or will the boys’ network huddle and campaign for one of their own?

Party members will, of course, automatically find it easier to rally behind a man, because men, with a penchant for self-promotion, tend to fare better in polls, and everyone loves to support a winner-in-the-making. Mediterranean men, by their very nature, have their work half cut out for them when it comes to elections, and there comes a point when women tire of having to jostle and shout above the fray to make their voices heard.

The PN has been plunged into the dark ages with cavemen running it- Kristina Chetcuti

And this is why the PN needs to rise to the occasion. It needs to realise that, hey, what the country needs at the moment – with a government oozing corruption from all orifices – is not someone with the gift of the gab but someone with sheer competence. Competent leaders bring quiet, non-sensational effectiveness to the table. Charming leaders, as we’ve seen time and time again, bring nothing with them but soap operas and stand-up comedy.

Unfortunately, we make it easy for incompetent men to become leaders, but my God, time and time again, we make it hard for competent women to become leaders.

Sadly, we live in an age where we confuse seduction and charm with effective leadership qualities. In a TED Talk, organisational psychologist Chamorro-Premuzic (a must-watch for all tesserati) shows how if leaders had to be selected on competence rather than confidence; on humility rather than charisma; and integrity rather than narcissism, we would not just end up with more competent leaders, but also more women leaders.

Think Angela Merkel. She lacks the charismatic leadership and the typical trumpet-blowing of countless male world leaders, but by Jove, isn’t she one of the most effective and powerful political leaders of our time?

This is why the PN is at crucial crossroads: it doesn’t even need to nurture leadership qualities and skills in the two women I mentioned above – they already have them by the bucketfuls – the party just needs to support them to help them succeed.

The PN has been plunged into the dark ages with cavemen running it. The last three years it has been led by a man who calls all women ‘pupa’ and who thinks he can pat their koxxox any time he fancies (and I am being economical with descriptions here). A woman leader is possibly the only thing that can save the PN – and this country – at this point.

It is a move that can put the party back on the map as the force that used to always be one step ahead when it came to foresight and policies.

I have long dreamt that my daughter will one day live in a nation where she will not be judged by her gender but by the content of her character. Having female leaders would be step one to break down the stifling cultural and structural barriers. That dream is now within our reach – but it depends on the tesserati to look beyond the glitter.

This is the PN’s moment of truth. The country needs a change – we need a drastic shift from melodramas and charismas to good old efficiency. A woman leader would bring about a quiet change that would shake the very roots of the mould and stuffiness that have taken over the halls of the Stamperija.

Please.

* * *

P.S. Super One will undoubtedly spin something about how Simon Busuttil is sending cryptic messages to some fictional faction through his sieħba. Because, of course, Super One epitomises the Mediterranean chauvinism that women cannot have a voice of their own but are always parroting what their father, husband or partner is saying. The truth is that the last thing Super One wants is a woman PN leader – and that in itself should be a clear-cut guideline as to how tesserati should vote.

krischetcuti@gmail.com
Twitter: @krischetcuti

This article was submitted on Thursday morning and has been superseded by events.